A Dublin woman has urged other women to think twice before getting into a taxi alone, after an experience with a driver that left her "fearing for the worst".

Earlier this week, Emma Shiels took to Facebook to describe a taxi journey she took in which the driver allegedly tried to bring her down a dead-end road in the wrong direction, despite her asking him not to.

She claims the incident left her badly shaken, and that her anxiety was so bad afterwards that she was unable to eat or sleep.

Emma encountered the driver after spending an evening with friends in Finglas, when she hailed a taxi to Clonee, Co Meath using a friend's phone.

She says her suspicions about the driver began when the driver decided to use a number of back roads through Damastown Industrial Estate, despite Emma asking him to travel via the motorway.

In her Facebook post, which has since gone viral, she said: "That was fine until he got to the only exit that says Clonee on the left, the other two exits were just down dead end roads that lead to massive warehouses.

“I told him he was going the wrong way and he acted stupid and said ‘no it’s this one’ as he went around the roundabout I said ‘where are you going?’"

Emma added that the driver hesitated for a minute, and began to reverse to look at a sign with directions to Clonee - then told her the right way to go was in a different direction.

She continued: "Instantly I had a gut feeling a horrible one to get out of the car then and there while he was slowly driving."

Emma immediately told the driver that she was getting out and paid him €20, but her alleged ordeal didn't end there.

Despite trying to get away from the car, she claims that the driver started to slowly drive up beside her telling her to get back in the car.

She says: "I tried to flag down strangers and when he noticed people driving by he got nervous and start driving off the other way staring at me out the window."

Although Emma's partner later showed up at a local garage to collect her, she said the incident left her badly shook.

She told 98 FM's Dublin Talks; "I wasn't going to post anything because I had such bad anxiety; I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat...

"Nothing like this has ever happened to me, and the gut feeling I had was panic. It just wasn't normal. I was fearing for the worst."

When contacted by Dublin Live, a Garda spokesman said it was not currently investigating any claims of bogus taxi drivers operating in the area.

A spokseman for the National Transport Authority (NTA) advised passengers to use the Driver Check App, allowing them to verify that both the vehicle and driver they have hired are registered properly.

The app, the only one of its kind that has been developed in Europe, also includes a function which allows members of the public to report to the NTA if they suspect a driver's information is incorrect.

The spokesman added: "The NTA’s biggest aim is to ensure the safety of those hiring a driver or vehicle.

"Every complaint received, including those relating to unlicensed taxis, is reviewed by the NTA. If a driver is found to be operating without a valid licence, the NTA will prosecute where warranted."

In the first six months of this year, the NTA brought 47 successful prosecutions against unlicensed taxi drivers.